The Black Ant

I was here on Saturday night with a friend and sat at the bar. I asked the bartender which dish was vegetarian as the menu is a bit confusing. He pointed to this mushroom dish and I ordered that. Once our plates arrived I was eating the mushrooms and there are these three little fried (I think) of yuca (I believe) with some sort of sauce on top along with something else that look fried. It’s super dark so you can’t really tell what you’re eating. By the last piece of yuca I realized there was a grasshopper on top. I freaked and asked the bartender if I was correct and I told him I was a vegetarian and he goes ‘well take it off?’. No.
I was comped for the dish (obviously) and we received a free round of drinks, but that was a HUGE mistake. For strict vegetarians or even non vegetarians — to have a grasshopper in your dish without knowing is unacceptable. Our whole meal should have been comped. I barely received an apology.
I will NEVER go back to this restaurant. Also they seated us in Siberia (there’s a room in the back that just had one other table of two) and we lasted a minute and decided that the bar would be more fun.
No more for me.

Best spot ever! I work in hospitality for one for the major hospitality groups and this spot is amazing!!! The bartenders can literally be on the phone and still be able to take care of you 100% I highly recommend Gregorio behind the bar!!!

The menu is creative, but my dish (although beautifully presented) lacked depth. The guac was an interesting spin as well, but again was missing something. I had high hopes for the margs given the Unilocal reviews, but they seemed a little weak, mostly ice, and overly sweetened, perhaps made with a mix. I’m used to fresh, organic margaritas, so this was a killer. The service was also a little slow, and we had to wait to be seated 20min after our reservation time. The wait staff is very uninformed about the dishes and their ingredients. I’m glad I tried it, but I won’t be back.
Score breakdown:
–1 for poor service and unapologetic 20min wait after reservation start time
–1 for sub-​par, overly sweetened margaritas
–1 for lack of flavor

Can’t get enough of chef’s Mario creations. Addicted to shrimp tacos «enchapulinados» and the scallops ceviche with my delicious Clamato michelada with Tecate made by big Chris and/​or Gustavo.
This guys know how to make it just the way I used to drink it back in Sonora on my hangover Sunday’s watching futbol…
Grasshoppers? Not ready for that yet…

Bottom Line: Awesome Oaxaca Mexican Food
If you like Mexican and consider yourself an adventurous eater, I definitely recommend trying Black Ant.
Menu:
They have a large array of «bug» dishes for the brave — including ants, grasshoppers, and snails. These bug dishes are less in your face and more subtle and compliment the flavors of the dish. The menu tends to reflect the seasons so I definitely recommend coming back often to try out their new dishes.
Décor:
The restaurant itself is dimly lit (probably hiding your view of the bug dish you just ordered). Candles are lit to give you a romantic at home feeling.

— pricy for the portions
— extra star for the novelty of eating bugs (tried the crickets.. .was like eating popcorn with lime seasoned salt.. .you know, until you get a leg stuck between your teeth and remember that you’re munching on a bug)
— not one for margaritas because they’re usually too sweet for my palate but on a hot summer evening, theirs was nothing short of refreshing (watermelon.. . might be seasonal)

Tl;dr: regret
The place has a very loud atmosphere and the service was average. The had a rough start with a ~$ 13 bowl of soggy chips and salsa. It was difficult to enjoy the meal while one of the bus boys was mopping condensation of the air vent above my table. The vegetarian options are also fairly limited. Overall, this a bad choice for dinner.

I’d heard such great things about this place that I was expecting it to be a 4 – 5 star experience. It was tasty. We had mescal margaritas, cactus fries, plantains, and the crispy duck dumplings in mole. Highlights: Black ant guacamole (yes, there are real ant atop this) and the churros at the end. They were fresh and had amazing dipping sauces, including an amazing sour cherry.
Will I be back? Well, I live in the neighborhood, so maybe… it looks like a great brunch spot.

Great Mexican food is hard to find in the city, but black ant is great. I’ll get straight to it.
The black ant guacamole was delicious and their homemade chips speak to the quality of this place.
The octopus dish was solid — the octopus comes hole, which makes it harder to share with a group. But I found myself cutting a lot of pieces because it was good.
We split 4 entrees and 2 sides:
The lechon suckling pig was the best. Served in a green sauce, it was juicy and flavorful.
The fish tacos were good, but too generic for a menu this unique.
The grasshopper crusted shrimp tacos were incredible. The crust was good but the the rest if the taco was impressive as well.
The fish special we had was a snapper dish and was also very tasty.
Overall, a great restaurant for quality Mexican and cool atmosphere in the east village.

Upscale little bar with inventive drinks. Drinks were good and pricey (but what’s to be expected in NYC). Service was friendly enough. It seemed to be like a very local joint so I liked the atmosphere. Didn’t order any food but from what we saw everything looked delicious, just on the small portion side.

Not nearly as good as I had hoped. Came for brunch where we opted to do the $ 20 bottomless mimosas or margaritas (on top of whatever our meals were priced) and had to practically beg to get attention for a second drink. Be sure to double check your bill! When we were given the bill they attempted to charge us per drink instead of the bottomless option we were very clear about ordering, we pointed it out and they fixed the bill to reflect the accurate price but had we not looked closely at the bill we never would have noticed.
The food itself was less than amazing. Nothing to write home about, the guacamole seemed fresh but nothing out of the ordinary. We ordered the duck hash and the waffles which were both good but lacking in flavor. with so many better brunch places in the city I won’t be going back to black ant.

Delicious Mexican
Home Made Corn Tortillas
Walking down the street debating where to grab a snack and a cocktail, we happened upon the Black Ant which was a pleasant surprise. Portions were relatively small, but full of flavor, and quality.
The spicy smoky margarita was just sweet enough, not too smoky and had the perfect amount of heat. You’ll be happy if that is what you choose to drink during happy hour! Everything that we tried was delicious, would definitely recommend to friends, and would happily return.
The Scene: Modern, Mexican
Destination Rating: 8
Date Rating: 8
Hob Nob Potential: 4
Note: Be adventurous, try something new.

I was looking for a good Mexican restaurant in the east village so a friend suggested The Black Ant. I was easily able to get a Friday night reservation only a few hours before. Sometimes that makes me nervous but I felt good since it had good reviews on Unilocal.
We arrived and they walked us into a back room (I had no idea where I was going) and it was completely empty. Two of us sat down waiting for the third person. I immediately knew we wanted margaritas, so with advice from the waiter we ordered a pitcher. The pitcher is pricey, $ 65, but the waiter said it serves 7 – 8 margaritas so between three of us we figured it was worth it.
First glance at the menu I was very nervous. I don’t normally eat rabbit, grasshoppers, or cactus. Yet everything we ordered had all of that. Ah! First we started safe with the guacamole and it had pomegranate seeds which were a lovely sweet addition. A good start with the fresh, delicious margs.
Next we ordered grasshopper crusted shrimp tacos (?!) and they were actually delicious! It basically tasted like fried shrimp with avocado and chipotle aiolis. This might’ve been my favorite dish of the night.
We also shared cactus fries, which we compared to fried asparagus. They came with a delicious chipotle mayo and the fries were pretty tasty, yet it was hard for me to get myself to eat cactus.
The two entrees we got were the duck dumplings in a mole sauce and rabbit enchiladas. The duck dumplings were so good and the mole sauce was the perfect compliment, although very heavy. The rabbit enchiladas weren’t my favorite but everyone else loved them. Guess I’m not a big rabbit person.
All in all, this place is pricey for the east village and has a VERY interesting menu, but I enjoyed it! I’m not rushing to eat grasshoppers and cactus again but maybe I’ll be back.

I read about The Black Ant in Tables for Two in the New Yorker and was intrigued. Although I’m not necessarily the most adventurous eater in the world, I’ve become more willing to try new things as I’ve gotten older. Eating bugs certainly seemed to fit the bill.
My boyfriend and I arrived at The Black Ant on a Friday night at 7. We had a reservation, but I don’t think it was really necessary. The restaurant is fairly narrow, but extends back pretty far and has quite a few tables. In keeping with the name, it has stylized black ants on the walls and a large painting of an ant in the back.
We started with the Black Ant guacamole (chipotle, garbanzos, tomato, cilantro, quesillo, black ant salt). I think they also threw in pomegranate seeds and mango, which added a really nice sweetness to it. Overall, it tasted great, but I was disappointed that the black ants didn’t seem to add to the flavor. We saw them in there, but we couldn’t discern any difference in taste because of their presence.
Next, we each had the enchapulinados (shrimp tacos encrusted with grasshoppers, habanero, cabbage slaw). These were simply amazing. The shrimp were cooked perfectly so that they had that bit of springiness upon biting into them, and the grasshopper batter added a really interesting savory, almost nutty, flavor. For those of you who are squeamish, there is no way you would ever know you were eating grasshoppers without being told since they’re pulverized into the batter and fried. No legs, wings, or other identifiable bug parts!
We also ordered a side of grilled cactus, which tasted like a soggy grilled bell pepper to me. Since I’m not a huge fan of grilled peppers, I didn’t eat much of this. Despite that, the tacos alone were worth 4 stars and I would certainly come back to have those again and try other things on the menu.

I was super excited to try black ant and the cricket croquettes. However, I was a bit under-​whelmed with our meal here.
We started with Michelada’s which were winners!!! Then, we moved onto the famous cricket croquettes, ceviche and duck dumplings. The croquettes barely had any flavor, I sort of felt like I was biting into a rice ball without rice. Like mashed up flour but not really. The cricket was small and also didnt taste like much. The ceviche was good but no home run. The portion was also ridiculous. They served 2 chips with it. So it was basically 2 bites of food. The duck dumplings were probably the best thing on the menu.
I would have liked to have tried something a bit more adventurous or flavorful but if I came back, I would just drink tons of michelada’s that bartender knows whats up.

IN SHORT: Chef Mario Hernandez and the same team behind Ofrenda broaden their horizons and bring modern Mexican food to New York with ingredients sourced from all over the great country to our south. While diners in this cozy, casual East Village space may feel like their orders are a little lost in translation, everything is guaranteed to still taste pretty great.
THE STORY: For those whose first love was not Mexican food, and thus did not devote a considerable amount of their spare time to stalking the cuisine throughout the city, some of the menu at The Black Ant can be a little difficult to decipher. Dishes are littered with words like pulque, chilacayote, requeson, chapulin, totomoxtle, and huitlacoche, which while lovely to read and sound out, could really mean anything from cheese to chicken feet for 90% of diners.
And between us, I’ve just listed a viscous, creamy alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey plant popular in central Mexico, a figleaf gourd, a cheese with a ricotta-​like texture, grasshoppers, corn husks, and corn smut. Who would have thought?
All of this is not meant to devalue the quality of these intensely flavorful regional ingredients, because part of The Black Ant’s mission is to serve Mexican food that is fundamentally unfamiliar to New Yorkers. The success of the restaurant is indeed admirable then, because guacamole is not served by the truckload next to dry, barely decent tacos, and proteins other than chicken and beef anchor many of the main courses. But with a menu that sometimes reads like an encyclopedia of lost words of the Maya, The Black Ant risks becoming inaccessible.
This loss of accessibility would truly be a shame, because it is genuinely uplifting to see New Yorkers getting excited about Black Ant Guacamole packed with dried chipotle, tomato, cilantro, grilled scallions, a little orange, and crumbly black ant salt. It is such a good thing for the seriousness of the cuisine that unique, contemporary Mexican ingredients can be enjoyed across an appetizer and entrée for under $ 30, and for that, The Black Ant should be lauded.
But do these New Yorkers know that their Tacos Enchapulinados are actually composed of grasshopper-​crusted shrimp with a spicy habanero chile and garlic aioli? Well, now they do, but they probably didn’t when they first ate it. The Black Ant’s contribution to dining in New York would be so greatly enhanced if their menu became slightly more transparent, and just a little bit more instructive, because the Tacos de Chivo filled with yogurt avocado leaf (I’m still not sure what this would look like off of the plate) braised goat, pasilla chile salsa, and cured chiles (whose preparation again eludes me) are truly excellent. The meat is juicy and tender enough to fall apart in a single bite, balanced by alternating notes of sweetness and heat from the various peppers in the dish. Look, The Black Ant! You made New Yorkers love the taste of goat!
The Black Ant also has an answer to the East Village’s obsession with all things fried with their Cactus Fries, fresh, light, vegetal-​like spears with a crispy crust meant to be dipped in a lightly spiced chipotle ketchup. They’re hot, not the least bit oily, and add a dense, green element to the overall meal.
The Pollo de Plaza Enchilada, while not as exciting as the enchilada with braised rabbit, acts like a gateway to the adventurous plates for the more risk averse eaters. Jerk roasted chicken is served with an amarillo chile purée with grilled, garlic braised green beans («ejotes» on the menu) for a spicy and succulent bite.
It’s clear that The Black Ant is in a position to seriously change the way New Yorkers experience and understand Mexican food, yet the restaurant either hasn’t realized its authority, or it is falling short of making impactful waves in the scene. Either way, with a few adjustments to the menu, and a little less emphasis on the insectile delicacies on a few of the plates, The Black Ant could be big. Right now, you might order something you don’t understand, but at least it’ll be something that you’ve never before tasted. You’ll like it.
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Tough review because the food and drinks are actually really good but our main took over an hour and came out cold. That’s weird, right?
But from what we had, I enjoyed the little fish tacos. The cactus fries are quite delish but I mean, fry something and give me a delicious dipping sauce and I’m yours forever. :)
The watermelon diablo is good and rivals barrio chino’s habanero grapefruit marg!!!
We will come back but on a week night.
All of this being said, the wait staff are lovely. But just disappointing in general. We’ll try one more time. Don’t let us down!!! :)

KenScale: 8.0÷10
I love to eat just about everything, but whenever I have heard of growing appetite for bugs, I would cringe automatically. Bugs and grasshoppers have become popular staples in Mexican cuisine, and the Black Ant in East Village seems to be leading the movement in NYC. Nevertheless, you can still steer away of insects entirely and still have a pretty good meal here. The food is progressive take on regional Mexican cuisine. While there were some hits and misses, overall my recent dinner at the Black Ant showed the versatility of Mexican food.
Curiously enough, the restaurant was serving happy hour menus alongside the regular dinner menus on a Sunday evening. I was a fan of the guacamole (from happy hour menu side) that came along with mango con chile to create refreshing flavor. Short ribs on a crispy corn boat and cabbage slaw were also quite successful. From the main menus, shrimps salad dish (alegria de camarones) was really great, creating intense yet balanced flavor to go along with crunchy texture of the shrimps. On the other hand, the one taco dish that I had (with wolf fish cheeks) was disappointing, as I found the texture of the dish to be too tough (I remember the restaurant serving cod cheeks taco until recently, so perhaps that could’ve been a better fish taco?). I found the rabbit enchiladas to be a bit on the heavy side although the meat itself was well braised. Crispy duck dumplings had strangely sweet flavor, but it did work pretty well as a shareable dish. My dining companion thought the jerk roasted chicken was underwhelming, but other than slightly touch texture, I thought it worked well overall with the spice. The restaurant also serves cactus fries (think fried zucchinis) that would complement your meal well.
The restaurant has a diverse tequila– and mezcal-​based cocktail menus, and I would suggest starting your meal with classic margaritas. Getting a reservation isn’t particularly difficult, and the restaurant was somewhat empty on a Sunday evening although people started filling in by the end of my meal. The subterranean dining space has a somewhat funky vibe, but should work for a casual night out in East Village. The Black Ant has some nice combination of dishes for modern Mexican dining experience in a fun atmosphere. You could definitely stop by here as well for either a full dinner or casual happy hours, without ever laying your hands on insects.

A pretty spacious place for a casual gather-​together. They had decent entrees, of which I especially liked the black cod and short rib. The foam on the black cod plate was, on the other hand, a bit wired… but overall, food was great.
Strongly recommend their dessert. «A party without dessert is just a meeting!» I completely echoed the point!
Nice décor… there was indeed a huge black ant to the back side of their wall.

This was the last stop on my birthday tour, it’s right next door to Cellar 58 and I went to enjoy some drinks.
The place is small but cute, the bartenders were absolutely adorable and the drinks are made with fresh ingredients.
I took away a star for 2 reasons
1. The bar stools are very uncomfortable, they are definitely not made for people with bass… it’s gonna be all treble for you.
2. I got there around 10:45 and requested a birthday cake (they do shooting sparkling awesome candles) I was told I would be able to have one and at 12am when my birthday actually rang in NOTHING they told me the kitchen was closed.
That made me sad, so my drunk self walked into the kitchen and the whole cooking staff sang me happy birthday after I yelled «It’s my Birthday! Where is my cake!!!»
The bar gave me 2 complimentary shots in lieu of my cake and candles, but I wanted cake.
The staff were good sports in general and I would definitely go back again